Ancient Greek Well at the Epicenter of Munich’s Artistic Show

The Kallichoron well of Eleusina.
The Kallichoron well of Eleusina.
The Kallichoron well of Eleusina, Credit: Christoph Ziegler

Strolling through the jewelry, narrative, and performance show “Initiation 2018 // Kallichoron,” which will run from March 8th through March 11th, 2018, at Galerie Florian Trampler in Munich, Germany, the audience will be finally provided a glimpse into the victory of civilization over the hubris of inflated egos. In a refreshing deviation from standard gallery fare, the show will feature several international artists’ works of art focusing on the “Body-Ritual-Narrative” triptych, with all the visual contemplations and perspectival weirdness one could hope for joining a somewhat intriguing mythological story.

During Munich Jewellery Week 2018, “Initiation III // Kallichoron,” will pose bold innuendoes about the end of civilization, and bring together a range of artistic treasures to “bridge jewelry with the sacred context of its origins and find meaning in its future development.” The participating artists’ inspiration was initiated after attending intensive workshops on performance, press work, storytelling, and ritual dance, as well as paying visits to museums and sites to admire fascinating collections. The installation of the fifteen-artist show, which is curated by ZLR Betriebsimperium, is attributed to the multimedia artist Daniel von Weinberger.

The founders of ZLR Betriebsimperium, artists Loukia Richards and Christoph Ziegler, currently based in Hamburg, Germany, and Athens, Greece, seem to confine themselves enthusiastically to a single medium in this project, the common denominator between movement and wearable ornament, which is no other than the body – but pay attention: They are still blurring lines using the very entrance of the sacred site of Eleusina, in Greece, known as “Kallichoron: The Well of the Fair Dances” at the epicenter of their artistic team’s inspiration.

What makes “Kallichoron,” constructed of blue-grey Eleusinian stone in the polygonal style, extremely important, is the crucial role it played during the Eleusinian maidens’ ecstatic dances in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of agriculture, fertility, harvest, sacred law, and the cycle of life and death, Demeter. According to the Homeric myth, the circular well was the place where Demeter, after she disguised as an old woman to hide her divine nature, rested when she first came to Eleusina searching for her abducted to the underworld daughter Persephone. “Kallichoron” was the boundary between life and death, and conscious and unconscious, that the Eleusinian mysteries’ initiates had to cross to reach the eternal truth.

Info

“Initiation III – Kallichoron”
Jewelry, Narrative & Performance show
Curated by ZLR Betriebsimperium
Munich Jewellery Week 2018
March 8 through March 11, 2018
Galerie Florian Trampler
Oskar-von-Miller-Ring 29-31, 80333 Munich, Germany, +49 (0) 89 24 294 007
March 8: 6pm – 10pm (show opening), Friday 9: 11am – 7pm, March 10: 11am – 7pm
March 11: 11am – 5pm
Participants: Daniel von Weinberger, Christoph Ziegler, Petra Bole, Eva Van Kempen, Satomi Kawai, Daria Borovkova, Evgenia Zoidaki, Kalliopi Andrikopoulou, Lyra Lin, Ting Quetzaljo, Vivien Bedwell, Bibi Klekackoska, Anna Lewis, Martina Turini, Loukia Richards